‘Underground’ to air special WGN episode featuring solo performance by Aisha Hinds as Harriet Tubman

On Wednesday, April 12, WGN America will air a special episode of its hit series “Underground” which will entirely feature a solo performance by Aisha Hindsas famed abolitionist Harriet Tubman. Hinds, best known for her work in “Star Trek Into Darkness” and “Under the Dome,” became a recurring guest star in the second season of this series that dramatizes the early days of the Underground Railroad. Tubman, of course, was the most famous conductor of the secret network of safe routes and houses for escaped slaves in the mid-1800s. The episode, entitled “Minty,” consists of Tubman delivering a speech about her life and her journey to freedom to a roomful of abolitionists, as she begs them to take action against slaveholders.

In an official statement released by WGN America, Hinds describes playing Tubman as, “both a great honor and also a tremendous call to duty as we examine how familiar the pain of our past can be felt in our present. In sight of and in spite of the overwhelming obstacles stacked against her, Harriet transcended bondage and inspired generations in the pursuit of liberty.”

“Minty” was written by creators Misha Green and Joe Pokaski and directed by Anthony Hemingway, a recent Emmy-winner for “The People v O.J. Simpson” (Best Limited Series in 2016). “When introducing someone as iconic as Harriet Tubman, we felt compelled to attempt an episode as revolutionary as her spirit,” divulges Green and Pokaski in that same statement. “When we learned through research in 1858 she began to give talks about her life to like-minded abolitionists to raise money for the cause, we knew we had our in: A ‘Ted Talk’ with Harriet Tubman.”

Adds Hemingway, who also serves as an executive producer, “This episode is truly one of a kind. It alone, masterfully revolutionizes TV storytelling.” The extended episode will air on Wednesday, April 12, in a special time slot at 8pm ET/PT, with back-to-back airings throughout the night.

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